Travel Tools - OpenFlights.org -- flight map and statistics go Web 2.0

Short version:

http://openflights.org/ :cool: (sorry, doesn't work on IE yet!)

Long version:

I love the concept behind FlightMemory.com, but I've always been unhappy with many things about the implementation. The interface is awkward and littered with obnoxious ads, entering flights is a real pain, the flight map is virtually useless (http://my.flightmemory.com/jpatokal) for the regions I travel the most in (SE Asia and the Middle East), and worst of all, it's run by some faceless corporate behemoth that charges silly amounts for "premium" features, is really slow to add in feature requests and might disappear tomorrow, taking away all the data I've spent hours punching in.

So I did what any self-respecting geek would do: I wrote a newer and better version. :D Key features:

OpenFlights has a way cool map. You can pan, zoom, select, scroll and explore all you like!
OpenFlights is user-friendly and efficient. Everything's on the same page!
OpenFlights works in realtime. Make any change, and you'll see it right then and there.
OpenFlights supports "trips". You can join up any flights together into a trip, which you can then display on its own page and even share with friends.
OpenFlights is free, period. No need to pay for "premium" access, although heavy users may be asked to chip to pay for the upkeep.
OpenFlights is free in spirit. No lock-in: importing your data and export copies for safekeeping is easy.
OpenFlights is free software. All our source code and (public) data is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License (http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/agpl-3.0.html) and can be downloaded from SourceForge (http://sourceforge.net/projects/openflights), so you can set up your own copy or just use the bits you like.


There's only one catch -- the website is still in "demo mode", because you can play around with the sample data I've entered, but you can't add in your own flight just yet. So...

I'm looking for brave beta testers willing to try out and give feedback on the flight input interface, which is still under heavy construction. If you're interested, please e-mail or PM.

I'm also looking for a new name and a snappy slogan. Criteria: the new name has to have a .com domain available, and the slogan has to be make it obvious what the site does and be short enough to fit into a one-line signature (so around 50 chars max). Post your ideas right here, and those who come up with the best ones will get superpremium access for life and be rewarded with eternal glory in the FAQ. :p

Any other comments, features you'd like to see etc are also more than welcome! ^

Moving thread to Travel Technology Forum
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Nice! While I had always meant to start using flightmemory, I could never motivate myself because of some of the issues you mentioned.

Looking forward to seeing your tool evolve.

BTW, normally I wouldn't even notice it, but it appears your map doesn't render in IE 7. Page shows a JS error. Firefox (my main browser) seems fine. I discovered it when opening the page in my RSS reader (FeedDemon), which is forced to use IE.

How about letting me import all the stuff I've put into FlightMemory? :D

RichMSN: I'd be delighted to (this has been in the roadmap all along), but can you give me a sample export file from FlightMemory? I need to figure out the format, because apparently you have to be a premium member to see it. :rolleyes:

notquiteaff: Oops. I tested an earlier version, but I guess I broke something... will try to fix it. :o

How about letting me import all the stuff I've put into FlightMemory? :D

Yeah, that would be cool (unfortunately (or fortunately) I am not a premium member, so I can't help you). Thanks... I look forward to trying it out.

wherehaveiflown.com

Two things.

I checked out the site and one thing I was having trouble with and I am not sure if it is just me or the site is that you can't continuously scroll around the globe. You get so far east or west then you get grayed out and have to scroll all the way back to the other side. What I though was interesting was that the red lines continue like the maps should still be there, in the gray area.

Secondly, as far as a suggestion for a new idea/Web2.0 thing to add would be some type of social networking feature that is some combination of Twitter and a calendar. I am thinking that people can import and add flights before they take them and see where their friends currently are and what flights they already have scheduled. An offshoot of such a feature would be to identify any overlapping time at common airport with friends.

One more idea I just thought of would be some type of statistics measuring for the community. Like the average number of flights/member/month or #of miles flown/member/month.

Adam

wingcheck.com, mywings.com or backflight.com

Had difficulty loading alpha site but endorse the suggestion for ability to include social networking tool & option to post upcoming flights, allowing editing/updating after flight(s). Both features would be useful to many online communities, including FT, TripAdvisor, etc.

I'd also like the ability to track tail numbers - it's kind of fun to know that, for example, I've flown on at least 204 different aircraft, including more than half of the entire US Airways A321 fleet.

Thanks for all the feedback! Beta testing will start on Friday if all goes according to plan, send me PM if you want to join the fun (and please include an email address)

I checked out the site and one thing I was having trouble with and I am not sure if it is just me or the site is that you can't continuously scroll around the globe.
This is indeed a bug in the site, I found out how to work around it today and it will be fixed in the next release.

Secondly, as far as a suggestion for a new idea/Web2.0 thing to add would be some type of social networking feature that is some combination of Twitter and a calendar.
I was thinking about this too, but there are already lots of sites doing some version of this (Dopplr, Tripit, etc) and it gets pretty complicated pretty fast. So it's not a priority.

Instead, my plan is to add aggregate data to airports and airlines, so you can click on one and see (anonymously) what flights other people have taken recently. Expand this to allow sharing data with friends, and then it would be possible to do things like seeing when your buddy last visited/is next going to the airport you just clicked on.

One more idea I just thought of would be some type of statistics measuring for the community. Like the average number of flights/member/month or #of miles flown/member/month.
This is already in the works, on a limited scale: so if you visit the site while logged out, you'll be able to play with aggregate data, covering (say) all flights entered yesterday.

Looking good!

I notice you are using OpenLayers for the click, drag, zoom and map piece. To extend it you may want to look at http://mapnik.org/ and for speed http://tilecache.org/

The first beta version, which allows users to punch in their own flights, is now up and running. You can log in and play around as username flyertalk, password flyertalk; if you want to become a beta tester and get your own account, drop me a line with your e-mail address.

I notice you are using OpenLayers for the click, drag, zoom and map piece. To extend it you may want to look at http://mapnik.org/ and for speed http://tilecache.org/
Thanks, but I'm not actually rendering my own tiles, I'm just using the defaults from Metacarta/NASA. The flights, airports etc are rendered on top of the tiles client-side.

Short version:

http://openflights.org/ :cool: (sorry, doesn't work on IE yet!)

Long version:

I love the concept behind FlightMemory.com, but I've always been unhappy
...
it's run by some faceless corporate behemoth that charges silly amounts for "premium" features, is really slow to add in feature requests and might disappear tomorrow, taking away all the data I've spent hours punching in.

So I did what any self-respecting geek would do: I wrote a newer and better version. :D Key features:
...
Any other comments, features you'd like to see etc are also more than welcome! ^

Dear jpatokal,

I am somewhat bemused by the way you portray FlightMemory.com or us, the three people behind it. A "faceless corporate behemoth" is really not what we are...many FT users will be able to tell you that.
E.g. you yourself wrote us "Great site! Just one request..." - the request being, what you stated here as "useless" for Asian based users.
As we are not dependent on third parties in funding (Venture capital) or people coding for us (OpenSource), we need to do every line of code ourselves.
That is why we decided, that we would only produce our very own domestic maps for countries, for which we have more than 100 users.
This is also what we had written you not more than 3h after your complaint.

So we really feel it is sad, that you of all portray us in the way you did here.
And of course - you still log in to FlightMemory allthough it is such a pain :D

Anyway - we wish you the best of luck with your site - we really do!!!

I like my flight memory, I even pay as it allows me to return for the great resource it is. I can see a better flightmemory as time passes, I can also see a diff program excelling, so I would like watch both grow.

I am a premium member, let me know how I can assist both parties here.

I feel like flightmemory is robust and allows for most tracking desired. Perhaps a web 2.0 edition would make it slightly nicer. I would like new maps in FM.

OpenFlights requires something more to make it stand out, if indeed that is the intent, perhaps images of planes or logos for airlines. Maybe add the ratings function available on FM.

Anyway congrats to both.

Update: OpenFlights.org is still barreling forward, the feature of the day being public user maps and stats (see eg. http://openflights.org/user/jpatokal). With any luck, the first public release will be out by the end of next week.

I am somewhat bemused by the way you portray FlightMemory.com or us, the three people behind it. A "faceless corporate behemoth" is really not what we are...many FT users will be able to tell you that.
Quite frankly, as long as your site and its code is not open-sourced, it doesn't really matter if you're IBM or three guys in a garage. Or do you find any of my criticisms to be factually incorrect?

As we are not dependent on third parties in funding (Venture capital) or people coding for us (OpenSource), we need to do every line of code ourselves. That is why we decided, that we would only produce our very own domestic maps for countries, for which we have more than 100 users.
That's right -- you decided. But the whole idea behind open source is that the users decide what they want to see, and if somebody wants (say) a map of South-East Asia, they can even implement it themselves. Or, in the case of OpenFlights, use a much better mapping engine that eliminates the problem entirely.

And of course - you still log in to FlightMemory allthough it is such a pain :D
Yup, that's because I'm slowly copying my data out of it and migrating it to OpenFlights -- and you make this process as difficult as possible by limiting exporting to premium users, and allowing exports only in PDF format even for them. :rolleyes:

flightlog [dot] com

flightlog [dot] com

Taken, alas :(

FYI, OpenFlights is now open to the public. New thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=10361424

Great application! Good alternative for Flightmemory, but there is still a lot to do. The map is slow and some features are annoying. Is it not better to use more flash instead javascript?

Is it not better to use more flash instead javascript?
IMHO it's never better to use more flash than necessary (which means it is better to use no Flash at all if you don't want to show videos).

Great application! Good alternative for Flightmemory, but there is still a lot to do. The map is slow and some features are annoying.
What features do you find annoying?

What features do you find annoying?

The aircraft "pick list" only has 5 on display so if I type 737 to start and it populates I have to choose between the -100 to -500 models. And if I manually type -800 and tab out of the field it replaces my entry with whichever from the pick list is highlighted. If I mouse out I believe the manual entry stays. I know how to work around it, but it is annoying.